Thursday, August 21, 2014

Or you could just call her Mom. . .

Having heard of the great and pressing need for a new term for the rather distasteful term surrogate mother, I have been appraised of its replacement. Temporary mobile gestational carrier. Ahhh, now that fall off the tongue about as naturally as the idea is unnatural. But it certainly fits. It fits a culture in which mom and dad are relative terms and families may have two moms or two dads or some other combination -- including trans-moms and trans-dads (for the transgendered). It fits a culture in which babies are like possessions to be purchased by those desired and thrown away if the desire passes before the sound of the child's cry. It fits a culture in which test tubes and medical procedure is replacing love, marriage and the baby carriage. It fits a culture in which gender neutral terms are used in every possible way to remove the taint of gender from the public conversation. Yes, I suppose babies need a temporary mobile gestational carrier. They really do. But more than this rather sanitized ideal, babies need a mom and a dad, courageous enough to marry and live together in fidelity and smart enough to know that parents are not puzzle pieces but essential and unique parts of the divinely intended and established ideal of family. Imagine that instead of farming out the messy business of conception, pregnancy, and birth, a mom and a dad find this responsibility to be part of their sacrificial service to their children and a duty to be born by mom with the loving support of dad (a joyous duty at that). Or is that too much to ask??

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Our Means of Grace Window

The Window

This is the Means of Grace Window that is above the altar of Grace Lutheran Church where I serve. It reminds us of the keys (confession and absolution), the wheat(the bread which is the Body of Christ), the cup (which is His Blood), the Word (Scripture), and the Pastoral Office (the red stole). In this one wonderful window we see the treasures of the Church in the Word and Sacraments and I love that it is available for all to see. I realize that this image has been stolen all over the internet but it is a real window, a copyrighted image, belonging to Grace Lutheran Church, Clarksville, Tennessee, which has kindly allowed my use of it...

About Me

I have been a Lutheran Pastor for 35 years, serving in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, and the Pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Clarksville, TN, in my 23rd year here. I have a lot of thoughts (obviously not all of equal weight or importance) and this place is where you meet some of those meandering thoughts from this pastoral mind.

Why begin a blog?

I spend a few minutes a few times a week checking out several different blogs. Some are on-line forums and others are the musings of friends, who, like me, are Lutheran Pastors. Since so many spend so much time in front of their computer, I am sharing a few thoughts in this medium. So join the conversation and see what pops up.